Scene, Heard

The more Todd Deatherage flew to New York to play shows with his buddy Rhett Miller, the more it was obvious that he'd eventually stop flying back. And when he came back after his most recent NYC jaunt, a trip that included sharing a bill with the bicoastal Miller at the singer-songwriter-friendly Fez, it was clear from how he spoke of the city and the show that he'd decide to make the move sooner rather than later. Turns out he has: Deatherage is moving to New York on August 31, making a pit stop in Memphis to visit his parents. He's already busily making the transition, recently selling his car as well as making arrangements with another recent New York transplant, Jon "Corn Mo" Cunningham, to sublet Cunningham's apartment for two months while the former Denton resident is on tour. "I'll basically be living with the Good/Bad Art Collective," Deatherage says of his new digs, an hour or so before getting onstage to play a couple of tunes with a reunited (again) Darlington. "We'll see how that goes." After Cunningham comes home to reclaim his apartment, Deatherage will have to find a new joint, though with the way things have been going, that shouldn't be much of a problem. "Everything's just coming together," he says. You hate to see someone like Deatherage leave Dallas, but if it means more people can find out about him, you can't get too upset. You can still catch him before he leaves at Muddy Waters on August 29, the last of the two-man shows he's been performing with guitarist Drew Flemming at the club every Wednesday in August. And if you don't already have it, pick up a copy of Deatherage's solo debut, Dream Upon a Fallen Star, to remember him by. At least until he comes back...

[DARYL] is back at Steve Curry's Modern Vintage Studios re-recording Communication: Duration, the EP the group released last year on Kansas City-based Urinine Records. Seems the band was never entirely happy with the way the disc came out, so it's going to start from scratch, recording all of the songs again as well as adding a few new ones. Expect a finished product more like the recently released full-length, The Technology (also recorded with Curry at Modern Vintage), since Beatville Records allowed the group to do what it wanted instead of what the label wanted. The band--singer-guitarist Dylan Silvers, guitarist-keyboard player Dave Wilson, drummer Mike Lamm, bassist Jeff Parker and keyboard player Chad Ferman--is still hard at work promoting The Technology (a tour with the pAper chAse is planned for the fall), though its members are filling their spare time with other projects. Among them: Wilson is playing guitar with Fred Savage Fanclub, and Silvers popped up recently onstage with Darlington, filling the role he vacated a few years ago. The new version of Communication: Duration is to hit stores later this year, though a label has not yet been determined; more than likely, it'll end up on Beatville, though Idol and Quality Park are also potential homes. No matter which label releases it, you'll want to pick up a copy or three so you can hear what Communication: Duration should have sounded like in the first place. Just further proof that dealing with labels, no matter their size, can sometimes put the "FU" back into fun...

Turns out the Dutch are good for something after all, aside from their ovens and hash pipes. The Holland-based Munich Records, founded some 30 years ago, has just released its first compilation, and it's loaded with locals. The collection, with the rather cumbersome (and cocky) title of Awesome: A Compilation of American Bands on a Dutch Label Named After a German Town, contains unreleased tracks by the likes of South San Gabriel (otherwise known as Centro-matic, or close enough), who offer the droningly sad "Evangeline"; the Gourds, with the rollicking singalong "Hey Little Light"; and ex-Texan Johnny Dowd, whose "Stumble and Fall" sounds like the Sparks' Russell Mael fronting Black Sabbath. The 11-song disc also features contributions from, among others, Centro-Matic ("Most Everyone Will Find"), the Baptist Generals ("Pats the Rub," off Chris Flemmons' rabid Dog), Austin's Damon Bramblett and ex-Long Ryder Sid Griffin's Western Electric. The disc's hard to find around town, but it's selling on Amazon.com for the rather nice price of $7.99, or about 19.13 Dutch guilders, which (we think) is still a bargain...

Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted is, apparently, a big fan of our own Speedealer, so much so he turned up at the band's recent gig in Austin at Emo's and stood in the audience singing along to every song. But Newsted is more than just a fan; he's also the producer of the band's next record, a follow-up to 1999's Here Comes Death, which was re-issued last year by Palm Records since the band's original label, Royalty Records, folded shortly after Here Comes Death's original release. The Newsted-helmed disc should hit stores later this year or early next, and you can thank Palm's A&R honcho Michael Alago for the pairing. Alago was the man who signed Metallica to Elektra Records years ago, and he also encouraged Palm to sign up Speedealer as soon as he found out about Royalty's demise. (Alago had fallen in love with the group after seeing it at South by Southwest a few years ago.) No idea on what Newsted and Speedealer will do together, but we can assure you of one thing: It will be much better than the next Metallica effort. Trust us, you don't want to hear the crap James Hetfield will be churning out now that he's in rehab. Quitter.